Location: The Irish Coast, the Western Lakes, small rivers near Dublin, secret spots in Donegal...

Posts: 110

Drift nets stopped in Ireland

Hi all,

been moochin' about the forums for the last few days. Going through a lot of the threads and stuff.

Was surprised to see no mention to the salmon drift net ban now in place in Ireland.

Has the topic been aired already? It looks like the next few years will be very exciting for the salmon angler. Unfortunately the decision came late for a few rivers and so there have been closures in some areas more heavily impacted by the driftnets in the past. Other rivers are open on a catch and release basis, but all the regular salmon powerhouses are open for business as usual.

Unfortunately not all commercial exlpoitation is stopped (draft nets can operate in open estuaries). At least there are very tight quotas in place for all forms of exploitation. The upside is that over the next few years there should be a real resurgence in the runs up the rivers.